John Adams Sr.
John Adams Sr. (February 8, 1691 – May 25, 1761) was the father of the second U.S. President, John Adams,Harold I. Gullan, First fathers: the men who inspired our Presidents, pp. 1, 7 (John Wiley & Sons, 2004) ISBN 978-0-471-46597-3. and paternal grandfather of the sixth President, John Quincy Adams.Doug Wead, The raising of a president: the mothers and fathers of our nation's leaders, pp. 1, 6-7, 40-5-6 (Simon and Schuster, 2005). ISBN 978-0-7434-9726-8. Found online at Google Books. Accessed February 28, 2011. He was, in turn, a fifth-generation descendant of Henry Adams, who emigrated from Braintree, Essex, in England to Massachusetts Bay Colony in about 1638.Whos Yo Mamma website.McCullough, pp. 29-30. He was also descended from John and Priscilla Alden.Thomas Fleming, The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers, pp. 126-127. (HarperCollins, 2010) ISBN 978-0-06-113913-0. Found online at Google Books. Accessed February 28, 2011. Adams worked as a farmer and cobbler (also called a cord-wainer or shoemaker) for most of his life.McCullough, p. 30. Adams' descendants include many prominent persons in American history, and his home is a National Park, the Adams National Historical Park.Zachary Kent, John Adams: Creating a Nation: America's founding fathers, p. 13 (Enslow Publishers, 2004) ISBN 978-0-7660-2183-9. Found online at Google books. Accessed February 28, 2011. Not only was he the father and grandfather of presidents; he also was a first cousin, once removed, of Samuel Adams.Bud Hannings, American Revolutionary War leaders: a biographical dictionary, pp. 5-6. (McFarland, 2009) ISBN 978-0-7864-4379-6. Career In 1720, Adams purchased a farm in what is now Quincy, Massachusetts (then called the "north precinct" of Braintree, Massachusetts).Chambers Biographical Dictionary, ISBN 0-550-18022-2, page 8.McCullough, p. 29. The location of his farm, and where his children were born, is now part of Adams National Historical Park. This saltbox house, a simple and common dwelling characterized by its sloping roof,McCullough, pp. 31-32. is operated by the National Park Service as the John Adams Birthplace, and is open to the public. On December 19, 1960, the birthplace was designated a National Historic Landmark. Polly M. Rettig and Charles E. Shedd, Jr. (March 5, 1975) , National Park Service and The future President lived here with his parents on the farm until 1764, when he married Abigail Smith. It is a few feet from the John Quincy Adams Birthplace. Oddly, his house lay at an angle to the road. Adams was primarily a farmer during the growing season, and also worked as a shoemaker,McCullough, pp. 29, 30, 414, 460. for which he earned "hard money" as a trade during the winters. He was a freeholder, who owned rather than rented his land. He was proud of being a landowner, and felt that land was a good investment,McCullough, p. 63. only once selling land: ten acres to pay for his son's Harvard education.McCullough, p. 35. Adams was also a deacon in his church, a lieutenant in the Massachusetts colonial militia, a tax collector, and a selectman of the Town of Braintree (for 20 years, now Quincy).McCullough, pp. 30, 52, 73.Edith Gelles, Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage, pp. 6-8 (HarperCollins, 2010) ISBN 978-0-06-135412-0. Found online at Google books. Accessed February 28, 2011.McCullough, pp. 52-53, citing John Adams' obituary of his father. He was a Congregationalist (that is, Puritan) deacon. The younger John Adams wrote of the religion his father was so passionate for, "are bearers of freedom, a cause that still had holy urgency." John Adams, 1st Vice President (1789–1797)". From United States Senate website. Retrieved 2007-08-01. The future president was first known by reputation as the "dutiful son of Deacon John".McCullough, p. 36. As a selectman, or town councilman, for 20 years, he supervised the poor house, schools, and roads.McCullough, pp. 46, 52-53, 73. His wife forced him to resign as selectman after a "family row" over his taking in a destitute young female.McCullough, p. 46. A leading local man, other men would stop by "Deacon John's house" to discuss business or religion.McCullough, p. 32. He even received a visit from Punkapaug and Neponset Indian chiefs.McCullough, p. 72. Adams attended Harvard College, and sent his eldest son there as well. He did not want his son to be a farmer, but rather, a minister.McCullough, pp. 34, 36, 37. In fact, he sold 10 acres of his land to pay for John's proverbial "Harvard education".McCullough, p. 35. Although he was a simple man who "never set foot outside of New England,"McCullough, p. 23. his son the founding father was proud of his own father, praising him in private correspondence to Benjamin Rush as well as in his public obituary, which he wrote on the back of his father's Will.McCullough, pp. 30, 33, 52-53. The president praised his father and paternal ancestors as "independent country gentlemen," who had not gone bankrupt, didn't gamble, and had never committed fraud.McCullough, pp. 36, 414, 453. Marriage and family Adams married well, to Susanna Boylston, from a prominent family of scientists and medical doctors, in October 1734.John Adams and John P. Diggins, The portable John Adams, (Editor John P. Diggins), (Penguin, 2004) ISBN 978-0-14-243778-0. Found online at Google Books. Accessed February 28, 2011.McCullough, p. 30. His socialite bride came from the wealthy and respected line of Boylstons of Brookline.Lycos.com website Susanna had a "higher social standing than" him. When their first son went to Harvard, his class rank was determined primarily by his mother's socio-economic status.McCullough, p. 37. Since it is known that he and his sons read out letters to her, Susanna might have been illiterate, as were many women of her class and day. The Adams family famously "lived plainly." Together they raised a family of three sons, of which John Adams was the oldest;http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/johnadams/section1.html their other sons were Peter and Elihu.http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/P/ja2/about/bio/adams01.htm Peter Boylston Adams was a farmer and militia captain of Braintree, Massachusetts. Elihu Adams was a company commander in the militia during the American Revolution, who died from a dysentery early in the war in 1775.McCullough, p. 25. Adams bequeathed his son the "humble notions of equality and fairness." He was a strict father who appears to have believed in patriarchy. He raised his sons to join the militia, and would rap out reveille on his kitchen table. Like many families of the day, he homeschooled his sons.Martin Kelly and Melissa Kelly, The Everything American Presidents Book: All You Need to Know about the Leaders Who Shaped U.S. History, p. 24. (Everything Books, 2007) ISBN 978-1-59869-258-7. Found online at Google Books. Accessed February 28, 2011. He later sent his son John to a private school run by Joseph Marsh.McCullough, p. 34. The senior John pressed upon his son to live up to his high Puritan origins, which young John continued to strive towards for the rest of his life. When his eldest son went to Harvard College, aged sixteen, his father expected him to become a minister, as the elder had done.John Adams Library website. Adams was concerned that his son would become a mere farmer as he also had been, and had known how difficult a life it had been.David Hornfischer and Elsa Hornfischer, Father Knew Best: Wit and Wisdom from the Dads of Celebrities, p. (David and Elsa Hornfischer, 1997) ISBN 978-0-452-27772-4. Found online at Google Books. Accessed February 28, 2011. However, younger John became a schoolteacher in Worcester in 1756 and, later, decided to study law in the office of James Putnam. Adams died of influenza on May 25, 1761, at the age of 70,McCullough, pp. 52-53. and he was buried in Braintree.McCullough, p. 29. His widow Susanna later married John Hall.Bud Hannings, American Revolutionary War leaders: a biographical dictionary, p. 6 (?) (McFarland, 2009) ISBN 978-0-7864-4379-6. His son purchased his house and 53 acres after his death.McCullough, p. 64. References Sources * David McCullough, John Adams (New York: Simon & Schuster 2001) ISBN 0-684-81363-7. Category:1691 births Category:1761 deaths Category:Adams family Category:Fathers of Presidents of the United States Category:Deacons Category:American Congregationalists Category:People from Quincy, Massachusetts Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Elders Category:Male Category:Males Category:Deaths by congestive cardiac failure Category:17th-century American Unitarians Category:18th-century American Unitarians